KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 8): Share prices of rubber glove manufacturers, which have been on the decline of late, dominated the top gainers list today as investors bargain-hunted amid the continued rise of Covid-19 cases globally.
All seven glove makers — Top Glove Corp Bhd, Hartalega Holdings Bhd, Supermax Corp Bhd, Kossan Rubber Industries Bhd, Careplus Group Bhd, Rubberex Corp Bhd and Comfort Gloves Bhd — made it to the top 20 gainers list.
Hartalega topped the list after climbing RM1.60 or 14.68% to close the day at RM12.50, which gave it a market capitalisation of RM42.85 billion. The counter saw a trading volume of 21.7 million shares, exceeding its 200-day average trading volume of 10.14 million shares.
Supermax came in second after gaining RM1.25 or 20.66% to settle at RM7.30, valuing it at RM16.49 billion, after 68.07 million shares were traded.
This was followed by Top Glove (up 70 sen or 12.07% to close at RM6.50) in fifth place, Careplus (up 65 sen or 28.26% to RM2.95) in seventh, Comfort Gloves (up 54 sen or 17.53% to RM3.62) in ninth, Kossan (up 45 sen or 11.11% to end at RM4.50) in 13th, and Rubberex (up 44 sen or 29.73% at RM1.92) in 14th.
The Edge reported earlier today that rubber glove stocks, which had retreated at least 40% from their respective peaks last year, appeared oversold, judging by the target prices they had been pegged at by investment analysts. Expected sustainable strong demand in 2021 and a hike in average selling prices were the main source of optimism.
Citing a check with Bloomberg, it also noted that the Four Big rubber glove makers of Top Glove, Hartalega, Supermax and Kossan, had a headroom of at least 50% growth to their respective average TP.
The surges in these stocks today — with Top Glove, Hartalega and Supermax being index-linked stocks — had a profound impact on the broader market. The FBM KLCI finished 30.24 points or 1.89% higher at 1,633.19. Rubber glove manufacturers are also constituents of Bursa's Health Care index, which climbed 135.24 points or 3.87% to settle at 3,627.79.
"Late bargain hunting on rubber gloves and plantation stocks lifted the local blue-chip benchmark (KLCI) to close above 1,600 [on] Thursday, buoyed by spiking Covid-19 cases and CPO (crude palm oil) price, which surged to the RM4,000 per tonne level, but the broader market was clouded by domestic politics and fears of another lockdown dampening economic recovery momentum," TA Securities Holdings Bhd analysts wrote in a note earlier today.
"Trading [today] should remain choppy given uncertainty over the domestic political situation, and high potential for targeted lockdowns in red zones reversing economic recovery momentum following the resurgence in daily local Covid-19 transmissions to record highs," they added.
Yesterday, Malaysia’s new Covid-19 daily cases rose past the 3,000 mark for the first time, when the country reported a fresh record high figure of 3,027 infected individuals.
Today, the number of new infected individuals dropped to 2,643 — which raised the cumulative infections to 131,108. But the country recorded its highest number of Covid-19-related deaths in a single day at 16, which brought the cumulative fatalities in the country due to the pandemic to 537.